An Egyptian man deported from the United States to Equatorial Guinea has been held incommunicado for a week at a gendarmerie station, one of his lawyers told Reuters. Ahmed Soliman was arrested last Friday and has been unable to see his attorneys. The spokesman for Equatorial Guinea's government and its embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
Earlier this month, Soliman said police officers pulled guns on him and other migrants during an altercation at a hotel in Malabo, the former capital, where he and other migrants deported by the US have been held. Video of the incident and news of Soliman's subsequent arrest have drawn criticism from rights groups regarding the "third-country deportation" deals struck by the Trump administration with several African countries. These deals allow Washington to deport migrants who cannot be sent to their home countries because they have obtained protection from US immigration judges. Washington has defended these deals as lawful and stated that deportations are carried out in accordance with US immigration law.
Soliman is being held at the La Luna gendarmerie station in Malabo, a facility that has previously been used to hold human rights activists, according to Amnesty International. Soliman's lawyer stated that the accusation of breaking a mirror in an elevator was a pretext for his arrest, believing it was retaliation for Soliman speaking out and for videos of the incident being leaked. Amnesty International confirmed that Soliman is being held with another deportee, Samson Birhane, and that both are accused of breaking the mirror. The organization also stated that police officers covered the men's heads with bags and beat them. Amnesty called for their immediate release and unimpeded access to counsel.
US Representative Adelita Grijalva criticized the third-country deportations, stating that the US is responsible for ensuring that deportees are sent to safe locations, and that a country accepting a deportee does not guarantee their safety.